The Balcony Edit: Turning Four Square Metres Into an Outdoor Room

Some of the most charming outdoor spaces in the world are tiny: a Mediterranean balcony spilling with geraniums, a city ledge with one chair and a coffee cup. Size is not the point. Intention is. When you treat a balcony as a real room, it starts behaving like one.

Define the floor

Bare concrete or tile reads as “outside”. An outdoor rug or interlocking wooden deck tiles reads as “room”. It is the cheapest way to make a balcony feel finished, and it is kinder to bare feet on summer mornings.

Choose one great seat

Resist the urge to squeeze in a full dining set. One comfortable chair you actually want to sit in beats four that are just about usable. A folding bistro set is perfect for tiny spaces; a low lounger or a hanging chair turns a slightly bigger balcony into a reading nook.

Plant in layers

Think tall, middle and trailing, the same way a garden designer would.

• Tall: an olive tree or bamboo in a large pot for height and privacy.
• Middle: herbs, lavender and grasses in clustered pots of varying sizes.
• Trailing: ivy, nasturtiums or geraniums spilling from railing planters.

If your balcony bakes in full sun or you travel often, a realistic faux olive tree gives you the Mediterranean silhouette without the watering schedule.

A balcony is a room without a ceiling. Furnish it like one.

Light it for the evening

Balconies come alive after dark. String lights are a classic, but a pair of cordless rechargeable lamps on a side table give a softer, more grown-up glow and come back inside when it rains.

Keep a basket of comfort

A lidded basket by the door holding a couple of cushions and a soft throw blanket means you can turn your balcony into a lounge in thirty seconds, and tidy it away just as fast.